The keeper, the coach, and the crash that cost £20,000

Blackburn's goalkeeper Jason Brown believed the team bus was in safe hands - but Sportsmail can reveal that he has been hit with a £20,000 repair bill after he demolished a wall when he lost control of the £250,000 coach.

With echoes of Paul Gascoigne crashing Middlesbrough's team bus in 1998, the Blackburn keeper will be forced to pay for the crash after heading down the same road.

Brown, who produced a man-of-the-match display earlier in the season when Blackburn entertained Manchester United, took the wheel, started up the engine and smashed into a wall. He has been informed that he is responsible for the repair costs after failing to provide a valid insurance certificate and HGV licence.

Blackburn manager Paul Ince is aware of the damage caused to the 15m-long bus, which was on hire during their pre-season trip to Germany.

Ince had only just been given the job at Ewood Park when the astonishing incident took place and it has been kept so quiet that even Rovers chairman John Williams claims he was not made aware of it.

Brown, it seems, initially hoped that the damage would be covered insurance and would be swept under the carpet but he has not taken an HGV test and was not covered to drive a bus.

However, the keeper told Sportsmail that he did not drive the bus: 'It was just nothing. I was mucking about with the coach driver and I asked if I could drive it. Obviously I wouldn't have driven it, because the only time I ever wanted to drive a bus was when I was a kid.'

But Sportsmail understands Brown achieved his childhood ambition when he sat in the driver's seat and started up the engine to the state-of-the-art coach and accidentally drove it into a wall.

Although Ince was informed about the incident, Rovers officials attempted to smooth over relations and Brown attempted to dismiss it last night when contacted by Sportsmail.

The Rovers keeper said: 'It was all a bit of a misunderstanding. The bus is worth £250,000 and I'm quite surprised this is all coming out now. There is no real damage and I would have needed an HGV licence to drive it. There was no damage to a wall.'

In the picture: Ince was told of the bus incident, which happened just after he took over

In fact, the real damage was to the coach and Brown has now been given the repair bill, which will cost him around one month's salary.

Brown had believed his team-mates, some of whom apparently 'encouraged' the keeper to drive the bus, would help him to pay for the damage, after learning of his financial penalty. However, they have now told him they do not want to take 'collective responsibility', which leaves him to foot the bill himself.

The England squad players who travelled to the Far East before Euro 96, including Ince, famously shared responsibility for a smashed TV screen on their way home on board a Cathay Pacific flight, but Brown is having no such support. The story has only recently emerged as the popular goalkeeper has only just received the bill for the damage.

Ince, who has played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe, including Liverpool, Manchester United and Inter Milan, expects his players to display maximum professionalism at all times.

Brown is now trying to find a way to raise the cash to pay for the damage to the luxury bus at a time when the behaviour of highly-paid footballers is under close scrutiny during the credit crunch.

He is understudy at the club to Paul Robinson, who was signed from Spurs in the summer following the departure of Brad Friedel to Aston Villa.

Brown, who has played Under-21 football for Wales, joined Rovers from Gillingham two years ago. He became instantly popular with the fans when he saved a penalty against Wigan on his debut.

Gascoigne famously took the keys to the Middlesbrough team coach when he was at The Riverside under Bryan Robson and caused £20,000 worth of damage after crashing the bus into a wall. He had asked for the driver to climb on top to fetch some equipment.

Robson later recalled: 'Modern players are better prepared to deal with everything this management game can throw at you, though it doesn't tell you how to deal with Gazza! He stole the £250,000 team bus we had just bought, when nobody was watching and drove it to the bookies. He crashed it, causing £20,000 worth of damage.'